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Tag: abia

  • Abia court refuses to transfer APC’s case

    AN Abia State High Court judge sitting at Okpuala Ngwa, Justice C. O. Okoroafor, has refused to transfer the case on the crisis rocking the state chapter of All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Justice Okoroafor said on  October 24, he was informed by one of his workers not to come to court as hoodlums had taken over the court.

    Okoroafor is siting over the matter between two factions of APC.

    The judge said it was unacceptable that some people would come to court and boast that the court would not hear a particular matter.

    He lamented that it was worrisome that they were aided by some senior officials of the judiciary.

    The judge said he earlier made an order asking the chief registrar, who took away the case file, to return it.

    The judge said he was surprised to receive a statement asking him to hands off the case without due process.

    Justice Okoroafor said: “I am surprised that when my registrar took the written document to him (CJ) after reading he tore the document and put them in a trash can, but we have the duplicate copy”.

    Counsel to the defendants C. C. Elele said he had been asked to appear before an Osisioma High Court 2 where the case was to be handled with a new case number.

    Elele said he was told the case had been transferred to the Osisioma High Court, and they were expected to appear before the court on November 7. and that h

    He said he was applying for an adjournment, adding that this would be subject to the outcome of steps taken by the court at Okpuala Ngwa.

    Counsel to the claimants N. A. Nnawuchi (SAN) said they had not been served with court process either by the CJ or any judicial officer transferring the case to Osisoma High Court.

    Nnawuchi said: “We have not seen or our attention been drawn to any order of transfer of this case from this court to any other court under the hand or seal of the presiding judge or that of CJ as clearly stated in sect 47 of Abia state high court law applicable to this court”.

    He applied that the court should order the arrest, and appearance of CR Benson Anya with the case file.

    Justice Okoroafor insisted the case had not been transferred as due process must be followed.

    He adjourned the matter to November 12.

  • Oil thieves cause of pipeline fire incident in Abia – NNPC

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says the fire incident that happened on System 2E pipeline network  in Umuaduru and Umuimo communities in Abia state was caused by suspected oil thieves.

    The Corporation disclosed this in a statement signed by its spokesman, Mr Ndu Ughamadu, in Abuja, on Friday.

    He said that the allegation that negligence on the part of the corporation  caused the  fire incident Friday last week, was false.

    He affirmed that the incident was triggered off by suspected oil thieves who had hacked into System 2E pipeline network  with a view to intercepting the flow of petrol from Port Harcourt to Aba.

    Ughamadu said the clarification became necessary in view of the recent statement by a legislator indicting NNPC on the fire outbreak which had claimed lives and valuable properties.

    The NNPC spokesperson explained that the presence of items such as jerrycans, among others, at the scene of the incident as contained in the preliminary report on the matter indicated that the activities of vandals in the area ignited the flame.

    He regretted that incessant vandalism of pipeline facilities along System 2Ex Pipeline Right of Way (PROW) has led to the underutilisation of the Enugu Depot, saying that the breaches have prevented the corporation from pumping fuel into it.

    He called on relevant government agencies to collaborate with the corporation to appropriately criminalise vandalism of oil facilities across the country, adding that host communities should also partner the NNPC to tame the scourge.

    Ughamadu prayed that God reposes the souls of the innocent ones that perished in the incident and  warned members of the public against tempering with oil facilities which he described as inflammable(NAN)

     

  • Senate investigates pipeline explosion in Abia

    The Senate has mandated its committees on Petroleum Downstream and Police Affairs to probe alleged role of security operatives in the pipeline explosion in Abia State, where 150 villagers were allegedly killed.

    This followed a motion by Sen. Theodore Orji (PDP-Abia) at plenary on Wednesday.

    Orji lamented that the carnage and avoidable loss of human lives in Osisioma Local Government of the state was worrisome.

    He further expressed concern over alleged inaction of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) over the incident.

    Orji alleged that the corporation did not wade into the pipe leak that led to explosion and death of many people early enough to avoid the disaster.

    He also alleged that the Police resorted to collecting money from villagers to scoop petrol in containers.

    “On Friday, the day of the incident, security operatives, particularly policemen allegedly made brisk business at the place of a pipe leak as they allegedly demanded money to allow the villagers scoop petroleum product.

    “There was pipeline leakage in the local government which is part of my constituency and people were killed while properties and farm products worth millions of Naira were destroyed as a result.

    “The number of dead people has continued to increase daily and as at the time of writing this motion, 150 people have been confirmed dead.

    “The explosion and eventual fire outbreak was not as a result of pipeline breakage or vandalism, but due to dereliction of duty by NNPC staff and compromise by the Nigerian Police.

    “There are two oil pipelines across the villages affected. One is an old and abandoned pipeline,” he said.
    Orji called on the senate to wade into the matter.

    Contributing, lawmakers lamented the death and the inaction of relevant authorities and urged the senate to grant Orji’s prayer.

    In his remarks, the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki mandated the Committees on Petroleum Downstream and that of Police Affairs to look into the matter as part of measures to forestall a recurrence.

    Saraki thereafter put the prayer to a voice vote and it unanimously adopted by the lawmakers.

    He asked the committees to report their findings to senate within two weeks.

  • Abia Pipeline Explosion: Atiku commiserates with victims

    The Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has commiserated with the people and government of Abia over the pipeline explosion which killed scores of people in the state.

    This is contained in a statement issued from the Atiku Media Office on Wednesday in Abuja.

    The pipeline explosion claimed some lives and destroyed properties on Oct. 12, in Umuimo and Umuaduru communities in Osisioma Local Government Area, Abia.

    The PDP candidate, who was represented by the Vice Presidential Candidate and former Anambra Governor, Peter Obi, visited the affected communities in the company of Abia Governor, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, and other officials of the state.

    According to Abubakar, the news of the explosion was very devastating and it is particularly touching that so many lives were lost to the incident.

    Read Also: Nigeria targets 4 million barrel per day production – DPR

    He said that the fatal incident should raise the red flag for proper safety measures along all pipeline beds across the country.

    Abubakar condoled with the government and people of Abia State, praying for families that lost dear ones to the incident to have the fortitude to bear the loses.

    According to the statement, Abubakar donated the sum of N10 million to the government and people of the affected communities.

    Other dignitaries who welcomed Obi include the Deputy Governor of Abia State, Sir Ude Oko Chukwu, Sen. Enyinnaya Abaribe and Hon. Solomon Adaelu.

  • Pipeline explosion: ‘don’t sweep anything under the carpet’

    Residents of Aba as well as indigenes of Umuimo and Umuaduru in Osisioma Local Government Area of Abia State have urged President Muhammadu Buhari, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and heads of security agencies to investigate the cause of Osisioma Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) or petrol explosion.

    Over 50 persons were reportedly feared killed in the October 12 pipeline explosion in two Abia communities of Umuaduru and Umuimo.

    The residents urged President Buhari, Kachikwu and heads of security agencies investigating the incident to question NNPC workers at Osisioma depot, especially those in-charge of petroleum distribution and supply in the facility.

    Some of the villagers, who did not wish to be named for security reasons, queried how a product that was meant for Aba alone found its way into an abandoned pipeline.

    A resident said: “The product (PMS), which we learnt came from Port Harcourt (Rivers State), is not even enough to satisfy the demand of Aba residents. Go to the depot and see a lot of tankers waiting to be loaded. Not everybody was able to get the product. Yet, somebody somewhere had the temerity to sabotage the government.

    “The product, in the first place, is not meant to leave the depot for either Enugu or Kaduna. So, if they are saying it is not sabotage, let the police and others tell us from their investigation of people controlling entrance and exit of products from the depot, on whose order did they push the product from the depot?

    “They should not sweep anything under the carpet if they know that this act must be stopped. The world is hearing this because it went the wrong way on Friday. We are going to open cans of worms of shady deals going on in that depot, if those investigating the incident want to sweep their findings under the carpet. We are watching and would make our position known in due time.”

  • Kanu’s family to Ikpeazu: don’t politicise our dad’s disappearance

    The family of the Eze of Afaraukwu Autonomous Community in Abia State, Israel Kanu, has warned Governor Okezie Ikpeazu not to politicise the disappearance of the traditional ruler.

    The monarch is the father of the leader of proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and Director of Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.

    He is said to have disappeared following the alleged invasion of his home by soldiers and his whereabouts have been unknown.

    At a meeting with some members of Eze Kanu’s community at the Government House in Umuahia, the state capital, Ikpeazu reportedly promised them that the monarch would soon return home.

    He said Southeast governors were working hard to ensure that the traditional ruler is reunited with his family before the New Year.

    It was learnt that the governor’s promise did not go down well with the Kanus and supporters of the IPOB leader.

    They reportedly cautioned the governor against playing politics with their father’s whereabouts.

    Addressing reporters, Kanu family’s spokesman, Prince Emmanuel Kanu, urged Ikpeazu to “look for better ways to entertain his guests and not use Kanu as a campaign slogan for his re-election bid and to score cheap political points”.

    Emmanuel also urged the governor to be mindful of his utterances on the whereabouts of the monarch and other members of his still missing since the military invaded the community.

    He wondered why “the governor didn’t think it was wise to visit the family in the last one year that our father, mother and brother disappeared suddenly. And now, he is making them his campaign tools”.

    Emmanuel added: “It is shocking; in fact, let me make this clear that Ikpeazu should leave the Kanu family out of his second term project. That’s as simple as that. I consider the governor’s comment as an afterthought. No amount of hypocrisy would exonerate Ikpeazu and his Southeast counterparts from culpability, to be honest with you, on the invitation of the military for the Python Dance.

    “The governor was present in Umuahia when the operation took place. Soon after the invasion, there was something he said that was all over the place. He said he sacrificed the family of Kanu to save Biafra land; that he averted a war in Biafra land by sacrificing Nnamdi Kanu. That was what he said.

    “He wants to identify with Nnamdi Kanu now. But funny enough, when Nnamdi Kanu was incarcerated, he never visited him in prison, nor afterwards. So, it’s shocking what he is saying.

    “That is a political statement. You know the way some politicians behave. He shouldn’t think that we can easily be deceived by hiring his supporters from our community to visit him in the Government House and making sorts of flowery comments about our family. You know, it’s just about politics.

    “If you look at the list of those who went to see him, no elite from my community was there. The president general never attended; the traditional prime minister never attended too.

    “Of course, because this is all about an election, it’s all about campaign. How come you (Ikpeazu) have not done anything, you’ve not said anything, you’ve not visited the community since after the invasion? All of a sudden you started talking of bringing my father back; from where? How come that any sensible man having children will leave his house to go and visit as a king? It’s impossible; it’s not done anywhere. That gathering was not genuine…”

  • Pipeline explosion kills 19

    Charred bodies littered Umuaduru  and Umuimo both in  Osisioma Local Government Area of Abia State yesterday after an abandoned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s (NNPC) pipeline exploded unexpectedly,burning people along its path.

    The State commander  of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC),Mr.Benito Eze, confirmed 19 people dead in the incident.

    Eze said 16 persons, including one woman, died in the explosion that occurred around 2.47 a.m at Umuaduru.

    He also said that three others died in a separate fire incident  that occurred at about 3 a.m in a private residence at Umuimo.

    He described the incident as unfortunate.

    He said that the Umuaduru incident happened when some youths in the area were scooping petroleum products from vandalised pipelines.

    He said: “I learnt that they were scooping petroleum products when a spark occurred, leading to an explosion that left 16 natives dead.”

    Eze further said that the fire at Umuimo happened when a woman, identified as a food vendor, got up at about 3 a.m. to start cooking for the day’s business.

    “I gathered that the family stored petrol in the house and that it caught fire when the woman wanted to set up fire for cooking.

    “The fire razed the whole house but the woman and her husband did not die but managed to escape with burns,” he said.

    The civil defence boss said that the couple had been taken to a hospital for medical attention.

    It was also gathered that  that three military personnel were among the deceased.

    Eze, however, declined confirmation, saying that “investigations are still ongoing to ascertain whether they were among or not.”

    He said that the command had deployed its personnel to cordon off the scene to forestall more casualties.

    The fire was later put out by men of the state fire service.

    Chief Thomas Onyekwere, the Traditional Prime Minister of Umueze autonomous community, said that the community was mourning their loved ones who died in the fire.

    Eye witnesses said   some members of the community who were able to identify their relations  evacuated their bodies  before the arrival of security agencies at the scene.

    At Umuimo, a source told our reporter that over six persons died in the community.

    Some of the injured victims were taken to an undisclosed hospital where they are currently receiving medical attention.

    Some of the injured persons reportedly died later.

    A pipeline guard who gave his name as Chuks Benson Uzoije said of the incident:”Yesterday, when we were on duty at about  8pm, we got information that there was leakage on the line.

    “All the surveillance personnel gathered and started calling the people that are in-charge from Port Harcourt to Kaduna.

    “They told us that government is not doing anything with the old line; that the attention of government is on the new line.

    “Instead of pumping through the line which they maintain, they now pumped through the abandoned line and there was leakage everywhere.

    The pipeline eventually caught fire.It didn’t spare anything around including my house. Nothing was brought out of the house. The only thing that came out of the house is this cloth, rain boot and apron that I wore to work .Nothing else was saved.

    “Property worth millions of naira were consumed in the inferno. My tenant and his family sustained various degrees of burnt.

    “We tried all we could to ensure that no one took the advantage to go in and scoop fuel, but how we ended up having this damage is what I can’t explain. The Fire Service personnel came, but by the time they arrived, the deed had already been done.”

    A resident of the area  who does not want his name in print called for an inquiry into the incident.

    He said:  “information came yesterday at about 3pm that there would  be pumping of fuel through   the old pipeline.

    “The people were fully informed that there would  be fuel passage through the pipe. That was why a lot of people who got the information went into the market to purchase empty jerry cans and by midnight they set out to various points where they had already marked to scoop fuel from.

    “If you look round, you will see that they all came with plastic materials and wheelbarrows which they would  use to take the fuel back to their various houses. They are aware of the dangers of using iron materials around the pipeline, that was why they prepared ahead of time to come with torch and other materials.

    “I was not there, but someone who was lucky to have escaped from the inferno told people that the explosion was due to the heat from the machines that the soldiers came with.”

     

  • Abia: Alex Otti vows to defeat PDP government in 2019

    The governorship candidate of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), for 2019 general elections in Abia State, Dr. Alex Otti, on Tuesday appealed to his co-contestants for the ticket to join forces with him in order to collectively defeat the PDP led government come February 2019.

     Otti, who made the appeal while receiving the party’s certificate of return from its National Chairman, Dr. Victor Oye at the APGA national secretariat in Abuja, urged them to bury their grievances in the interest of growth of the party.

    Speaking at the occasion attended by the National Working Committee, NWC, and candidates under the party, Otti said: “Let me appeal to everyone who participated in this process to understand that it is the wish of God that happened.

    “I would like to use this opportunity to welcome them and appeal to them to join forcers with us to ensure that we get to that place that God has destined for us.

    “Yes, it is not unexpected that when people go into a contest, and lose out there will be bitter and sometimes hurt, but we must also realise that in a contest that it is only one person that wins. And because one person has won does not mean that others that participated did not do well.

    “If you did not win today, tomorrow is another day. But if you destroy the platform and the structure that will deliver you, then tomorrow may not come. 

    “So, I’m using this opportunity to first of all apologise to everybody at every level, from contestants at the House of Assembly in different states under the platform of APGA, to the gubernatorial  and senatorial aspirants who did not make it to become candidates of the party, let them sheath their swords  and know that it was a brotherly contest.

    “That if we put our house together, that we will get to that promise land, and tomorrow is another day. So if anybody is hurt, let me apologise on behalf of the party, on behalf of the candidates that emerged and on behalf of all of us. We need to reunite the house.  I’m committed to everything possible to ensure that we have a united party.

    “Let me also say this is just the beginning because the main battle ahead is just out there.  What we have gone through is just internal contest, so, the enemy is out and not in.  So, we must do everything possible to ensure that we all work together. “

    On expectations from him coming to contest for second time under APGA, he said, “I think we need to put the question in perspective, the first is that yes, I have contested before. So, asking for one new thing I will do, I have not done the whole thing that I thought I will do.

    “So, the things I will do have just increased because of the bad governance in the last three years and half.  So, the whole things that I said I will do and the new ones that I will do; and I will just summarise them.

    “Again, the next one is to let you know that the people did give me their mandate in 2015. And what happened was it was stolen brazenly. And because they have done nothing, with the stolen property, I’m sure that the people will be more than determined to give me much more than they gave me in 2015.

    “What do I intend to? Abia State is a state that is blessed with resources both human and material, but because of the operating environment that the people have found themselves, in the last twenty years, they have not been able to make very effective use of al the resources that we are blessed with.

    “So, what I intend to bring is the right environment for people to use efficiently and effectively the resources that they have. What I mean by that; if you go to Abia State today, it is arguably one of the worst states in Nigeria today in terms of infrastructural development.

    “That has been over time. You don’t blame this present government alone. It has been like in the last twenty years.

    “But I think the present government has exacerbated the challenges that they met.  And they have also made a little fool of themselves by going to the media with so much of propaganda about work that have not been done forgotten that people live in the state and they know. They have first hand experience of how they live.

     “So, I intent to bring most importantly, infrastructural development because if you go to Aba and most part of Umuahia today, everywhere look like a refuse dump. But I don’t think it is too much to government to commit to cleaning the environment.”   

    Otti, also promised to turn around the state of roads, healthcare delivery in the state, which according to him are currently virtually not in existence in Abia state if voted into power as executive governor of Abia state.

  • Abia APC: why INEC should recognise Emenike as candidate

    ABIA State Publicity Secretary of All Progressives Congress (APC) Mike Ozoemena has explained why the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should accept Chief Ikechi Emenike as the governorship candidate of the party.

    Ozoemena, who spoke in Umuahia, said the Dr Emmanuel Ndukwe-led executive council, which conducted the primary producing Emenike, had a valid court order recognsing it as the authentic APC leadership in the state.

    The Abia APC publicity secretary said the primary was done as directed by the Adams Oshimhole-led National Working Committee (NWC), which Emenike won after defeating six aspirants with over 274,000 votes.

    Ozoemena said: “If the Adams Oshimhole-led executive yielded to the superior will of party faithful in Lagos State and accepted and authenticated the primaries conducted by the party even when the Clement Ebri-led committee thought otherwise, one then is at a loss why they chose to allegedly uphold the charade that presented a man not known to the party, Uche Ogah as the purported candidate of APC in Abia State, this travesty of justice will never be allowed to stand.

    “It would be recalled that in 2013 – 2015 when the likes of Chief Emenike and others were busy funding the infant party APC, the likes of Orji Uzor Kalu and Uche Ogah were either contesting against President Muhammadu Buhari in PPA, their failed party or running up and down to unseat Governor Ikpeazu in PDP through frivolous court processes.

    “We then wonder how a man would toil so hard to build a house only for political nomads to try to chase him out of his house to inhabit. The same party they called all manner of names ranging from Boko Haram, to Islamist Party is now good enough to be their platform. No wonder their names were not even in the discredited party register purported to have been used in the charade they called primaries which came belatedly after two days of Ikechi Emenike’s emergence as candidate.

    “The good people of Abia State and our party faithfuls are therefore enjoined to disregard the news making the rounds that Uche Ogah has substituted Chief Emenike as the candidate of APC for Abia state governorship election in 2019.

    “Nothing can be farther from the truth than that. We appeal to over 274,000 party faithfuls that elected Chief Emenike to remain calm as truth must prevail over falsehood and since Nigeria is not a banana republic.’’

    He said the rule of law must prevail and Abia should be free in 2019 from those that took Abia to Okija Shrine and made it prostrate since 1999 till date.

    Ozoemena said: “Abia State must be free and Chief Emenike is and will remain the candidate of the All Progressives Congress Abia State for the 2019 governorship election.”

  • Alex Otti, Udensi emerge as guber candidates of APGA

    The 2015 governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance ( APGA ), Dr. Alex Otti and Chief Chikwe Udensi have respectively emerged as 2019 governorship candidates of APGA in separate gubernatorial primaries held at two different venues on Friday October 5 in Umuahia, the Abia State capital.

    At a primary held at the APGA party secretariat located along Ikot Ekpene road under the leadership of Rev Augustine Ehiemere, Otti emerged winner with a total vote of 574 while 36 were invalid out of the 610 votes castes by accredited delegates.

    In another primary held by the Nnanna Ukaegbu led faction at Kolpin Society Locust Housing Estate, Umuahia, Udensi garnered 532 votes, while Otti scored 57 with 27 votes being void.

    Speaking at the end of the exercise, the returning officer, Barr. Carol Dike-Okoroafor, the National Welfare Officer of APGA who supervised the guber primary at Ikot Ekpene road described the election which held at Kolpin Society which produced Udensi as void.

    According to Okoroafor, they were at the secretariat to affirm the adoption of Otti whose name and picture appeared on the ballot paper.

    She said that the only election recognized by the leadership of the party was the one that she supervised with personnel of the Independent National Electoral Commission led by Madam Bridget Izuka.

    Read Also: ‘APC risks not fielding governorship candidate in Zamfara’

    Addressing his supporters after being declared winner by the returning officer, Otti promised that he was going to take the state from its present state of backwardness and darkness to progress and economic boom, adding that he is confident that the party will be taking over the seat of power in the state come 2019.

    Otti who promised not to dip his hands into the purse of the state as being experienced at the moment also said that unlike the incumbent that has been under the caps and whims of his godfathers, he would run his administration without being manipulated by any godfather.

    Otti promised to end the sufferings of the people have been subjected to in the past eight years as a result of bad governance orchestrated by PDP led government.